Original French Church and Civil Records Online

by R. Martin Guidry

Acadian researchers are very fortunate that original Acadian and French civil and ecclesiastical (church) records are available online for free. Links to Pre- and Post- Deportation Church records from Nova Scotia and the United States are in our Family Website Favorite Links.

Departmental Archives in France

Most French Departments have their church records and civil records online at no charge. The church records are not in a central depository, but are maintained at the individual churches and local civil administrative offices (town halls). Access the church records within each department at this link: https://www.guide-genealogie.com/guide/archives_adresses.html

On the map first find the province containing the department as Nouvelle-Aquitaine (light green) and then locate the department within that province. For example, Vienne (86) department within the province of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (light green). Then click on the department name as Vienne (86). The arrangement of each department's website will be slightly different so you may need to explore a bit. For Vienne if we want to see the Church Parish Registers click on Archives départementales de la Vienne (86). Pictures and captions of several sets of records will appear. For the church records click on Etat civil. Now you will need to know the Département, Commune (Village or Town) and possibly Parish that the records are in. For example, click on Vienne under Département, Châtellerault under Commune. To the right you will see all the church records available. You could further narrow your search by Church Parish, Type of Register (Catholic Parish Register, Civil Copy of Register, Protestant Register) and Type of Act (Birth, Marriage, Death, 10-Year Index). The records are arranged chronologically. Click on the small Camera at the far right of the line containing the records you wish to view. The original register for this set of records will appear. You can make adjustments to the quality of the image, print the image and save the image with Screenshot or Save Image As on your computer.

You can also view various other civil records for the department at this site such as notarial records, military service records, censuses, maps, admirality records, engagement contracts, newspapers, old postcards and photographs and other documents. The departmental sites often also provide links to Municipal Archives within the department. The records on each departmental site are arranged differently so some research on the departmental website may be necessary to locate the specific records that you seek.

French Civil Records

The National Archives of France (Archives Nationales de France) has four major locations: (1) Paris - Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (Main Branch) has post-Revolution period records, (2) Paris - Marais - records of French state prior to 1790 and the Parisian notaries' records, (3) Roubaix - records of the world of work (labor/business archives) and (4) Aix-en-Provence (Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer) - records of France's colonial empire as Acadia.

The Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer has digitized much of its colonial records and they are available free of charge. You can view these records at: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx

In the Search Box on the Collection Search page enter a term or terms for the record you are seeking. Using French words produces better results. For example, enter Recensement 1671 and click Search. The first item appearing will be the original 1671 Census of Port-Royal. Clicking on the title Numéro 8. Recensement nominal de Port-Royal... will display each page of this census which can be downloaded and printed. The printed information under the record image contains very useful information on the document including a brief summary of the document contents in the “Record Information - Scope and Content” section. For a rough translation from French to English or vice versa you can use Google Translate.

In addition to the Acadian censuses this website has many historic letters, reports and other documents of great value to Acadian research and genealogy. Try searching Claude Petitpas or Guedry.

The online records of the Archives Nationales Paris, Marais can be viewed at: www.archives-nationales.culture.gouv.fr (See “Salle des Inventaires Virtuelle - SIV”) and https://francearchives.gouv.fr

Vital Records in French Overseas Territories

The Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer website has vital records from many French overseas territories of interest to Acadian researchers. These include Caribbean Islands, South American territories, Canada and the United States. Many are original records; however, some may be transcripts or extracts. Acadians settled for varying periods of time at some of these locations after the deportations ended in 1763. You can access this website at: https://recherche-anom.culture.gouv.fr.

Click on Etat civil under Archives En Ligne. Then click on “Choisir un territoire” on the left. From the dropdown list select the territory of interest and further refine your choice. For example, choose “Guyane” from the dropdown menu, then “Sinnamary” from the “Commune” menu. Under “Année” insert “1760” and “1775” in the “ou entre” search boxes. Click on “Lancer La Recherche”. From the list of available options on the right select “1765” and you should see several Acadian names in these death records. Also, under the “Territoire” of “Saint-Domingue” look at the “Commune” of “Mole-Saint-Nicolas” and of “Jean-Rabel” between “1760” and “1800”. The first few pages of each register are alphabetical indices by year.

French Municipal Records

The French Municipalities also have local archives which often contain records of interest to Acadian researchers. The records that each has online varies by municipality. Some of these Municipality sites are:

Gallica (Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

Gallica has many online digital images of documents, manuscripts, maps and other original source material. It is free and available at: https://www.bnf.fr/en/gallica-bnf-digital-library#bnf-the-gallica-collection

Belle-Île-En-Mer Registers

The original Belle-Île-en-Mer Register is at: https://rechercher.patrimoines-archives.morbihan.fr/ark:/15049/296846.2688548/daogrp/0/idsearch:RECH_44b0621c3a580f75a559aa2b271a0bd7

This Register contains the sworn depositions of Acadians being settled on Belle-Île-en-Mer in 1767 documenting the genealogical history of 78 Acadian families. The depositions were taken to supplement the Acadian parish registers that were destroyed and/or missing during the expulsion of the Acadians. This was needed so the Acadians could prove they were Acadian and thus receive land grants and aid from the French government.

Canadian Sites With French Records

There are a few Canadian websites with copies of French records of interest to Acadian researchers. Beware, however, that many of the records available are not copies of original documents, but are transcripts of the original documents. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Public Archives of Canada sent archivists to France to find and copy Acadian records in French archives - especially at Rochefort, La Rochelle and Paris. Many of these transcripts such as Acadian census records and other documents pertinent to Acadians are available online at the Library and Archives Canada website. Some of the documents may be copies of original French records and other may be the transcripts of the original documents. The transcript can be valuable when the original records are not available or when the original records are difficult to read.

Two Canadian sites available online of particular interest are Heritage - Canadiana and the Library and Archives Canada:

There are other French sites with online records pertaining to the Acadians such as French military archives; however, these records are not used as much as the above sites and they generally have fewer records digitized and online.

Lagniappe

Here is a map from the National Library of Spain dating about 1768 showing the initial land grants to the Acadians when they arrived at St. Gabriel, Louisiana (Iberville) in 1767. Look closely along the banks of the Mississippi River and you will notice the horizontal lines with the Acadian names within the lines. These grants were generally 4-6 arpents along the river by 40 arpents deep. The map is entitled “Plan des Etablisemens de Sa Maje. Catholique a la Riviere D'Hiberville”. It is preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana (National Library of Spain). Because the map is large, it may take a couple of minutes to download. https://bnedigital.bne.es/bd/es/viewer?id=6557c9f8-fc90-4bae-ac30-8e7947a36500

Here is black and white copy of the map that may be easier to read: https://rla.unc.edu/Mapfiles/HMC3/BNE%20BA%2019-1a%20[8].HMC.3.jpg